Fashion has never really mastered the fine art of storytelling. It forgets how the story begins. It skips over passages. It’s unable to fill countless plot holes. The fashion industry is built on secrecy and because of it, we don’t know enough about the impact our clothes have on the planet and people. The lack of transparency and traceability makes it almost impossible for brands to ensure fair working conditions for people in their supply chain. If you don’t know how and by whom your clothes are made, how can you be sure that human rights are being respected and our planet is being protected?
The Impact
You simply can’t. In 2013, 1,134 lives were lost due to secrecy in the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse. In 2014, we lost the Aral Sea, the 4th largest lake of our Planet, for the same reason. The rivers that fed it were redirected to support the global demand for cotton. The absence of transparency and traceability meant we were not receiving the necessary information to even see it coming.
With more than 60 million workers - of which 75% are female - the fashion industry is one of the largest employers worldwide. Workers in sourcing regions often face unsafe factories and harsh working conditions. 60% of the global textile production is located in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where minimum wages are less than half of what’s required to meet basic needs and environmental regulations for the disposal of chemicals are weak, if existent at all.
Sheep Inc. Standard
Sheep Inc. was born to challenge the industry standard. Our aim is to tell the whole story - not skipping a single narrative thread. Transparency and traceability matter because without them there cannot be change. The two alone are not the solution to the fashion industry’s problems, but they are the foundations from which to build a more responsible future by shining light on issues that have been ignored for too long.
As a company, we use technology to track the journey of our sweaters, from sheep to you. Each and every step of our supply chain is easily accessible by simply tapping your phone on the sweater’s NFC reader to learn about our partners, their carbon footprint and people involved. Allowing you to adopt a sheep with your purchase is our way of bringing you and us back in contact with the source. Because all garments begin their life somewhere and only by holding ourselves accountable for how much we take and how much we give back can we hope to build a better present and future.
Looking forward
We commit to continuously increase transparency across our supply chain and give you the full stories behind the people who made your clothes - conscious that each and every product has a human handprint as well as an environmental footprint. As our story continues and develops so does that of the people we work with. We are excited to see where the next chapter will take us.
